Holder for collapsible tubes



Dec. 22, 1936. R OLDFIELD HOLDER FOR COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Filed April 23, 1956 131062112)? RGM' O, imam fi fibrng.

Patented Dec. 22, 1936 UNl-TED' STATES PATENT OFFICE HOLDER FOR COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Ren Oldfield, Norristown, Pa.

Application April 23, 1936, Serial No. 76,070 5 Claims. (clam-so) The object of the invention is to provide improvements in supports for collapsible tubes broadly, but more especially in a construction, whereby a pair of tubes is operatively supported, and adapted to be progressively compressed independently of each other.

Another object is to provide in such a device a pair of shafts, axially aligned and rotatably connected together, with means for operatively attaching a collapsible tube to each of said shafts, and means to rotate said shafts independently of each other.

A further object is to provide a device of this character, in which a base plate is provided with a three-point support for the said pair of axially aligned shafts, the outermost of said supports rotatably supporting the opposite end portions of said shafts, while the central support rotatably supports the adjacent end portions of said shafts simultaneously.

Still another object is to provide in such a device means for manually rotating said shafts independently of each other, and one of said means being provided with a suitably shaped aperture, adapted to detachably receive any wellknown shape of tooth brush when not in use.

And a still further object is to provide a slightly modified form of the device, in which the adjacent endportions of said shafts are telescopically journalled one within the other, and supported by a common supporting element to rotate independently of each other, said element comprising a bracket carried by a base member, which is also provided with additional elements to rotatably support the opposite ends of said shafts.

With these objects in mind, the invention comprises further details of construction and operation, which are hereinafter fully brought out in the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, inwhich Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a device comprising one embodiment of the invention, operatively related to a pair of tubes, a toothbrush and a supporting element; Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevation of the improved support per se; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the device as shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of one of the shafts operatively supporting a depending collapsible tube; and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of a slightly modified construction for operatively and relatively rotatably connecting the adjacent ends of said shafts.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawing, one

embodiment of the invention shows a base plate I, provided at its opposite ends with forwardly projecting parallel integral supporting elements 2 and 3, and substantially centrally with a third such supporting element 4, said plate being adapted for attachment by any suitable means to an extraneous support 4'.

A pair of shafts 5 and 6 is provided, the adjacent end portions of said shafts beingrotatably connected together by means of a pin or lug l, which may initially comprise a separate element, or may comprise an integral extension of one shaft extending slidably through the other shaft, and riveted upon its free end to prevent separation of said shafts, the pin in the form shown having its opposite ends projecting into longitudinally extending slots 8 and 9, with which said shafts are respectively provided.

In the form shown, the shaft 5 is preferably somewhat longer than the shaft 6 and is journalled through the supporting element 4, which element therefore forms a rotatable mounting or support common to the adjacent end portions of both of said shafts, while the oppositely extending end portions of said shafts protrude through the supporting elements 2 and 3, and are provided respectively with manually engageable, preferably flattened end portions I0 and II, one of which is provided with an aperture l2, through which the handle of any well-known type of toothbrush I3 may extend, when such brush is not in use.

In the operation of the device thus described, the compressed end portions IA of two collapsible tubes l5 are inserted loosely through each of the slots 8 and 9 of the said shafts, whereupon said shafts are manually rotated either in one direction or the other, so as to roll the said flattened ends of the tubes, thereby compressing the same and resultingly operating to eject shaving cream, toothpaste, or other paste-like substances from such tubes, after the removal of the usual caps l6 therefrom, and without requiring the removal of such tubes from their respective supporting shafts, or otherwise touching such tubes, other than to remove said caps, and to replace the same after the desired amount of the tubes contents has been squeezed therefrom.

Referring to Fig. 5, a slightly modified form of the invention as shown, as comprising a pair of shafts I1 and N3, the former of which extends through and is rotatably supported by a centrally positioned element l9 and is provided in its end with a recess 20 into which loosely extends a reduced end portion 2| of the shaft I8, there by providing telescopic connection between said shafts, which permits them to rotate independently of each other, as they are supported by the common supporting element l9, and each of said shafts being provided with a slot 22, as and for the purpose hereinbefore described.

It is understood that the invention here-in described may be modified as to minor details of construction and operation without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, and defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A device of the class described, comprising a pair of axially aligned shafts, an end of one of which is rotatably journalled in the adjacent end of the other, means to attach a collapsible tube to each of said shafts, and means to rotatably support the adjacent end portions of said shafts.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a pair of axially aligned shafts, an end of one of which is journalled in the adjacent end of the other, a longitudinal slot in each shaft to operatively secure the end portion of a collapsible tube to such shaft, and means to rotatably support the adjacent end portions of said shafts.

3. A device of the class described, comprising a pair of axially aligned shafts, an end of one of which is rotatably journalled in the adjacent end of the other, means to attach a collapsible tube to each of said shafts, means to rotatably support the adjacent end portions of said shafts, and means to also rotatably support each of the opposite ends of said shafts.

4. A device of the class described, comprising a pair of axially aligned shafts, an end of one of which is journalled in the adjacent end of the other, a longitudinal slot in each-shaft to operatively secure the end portion of a collapsible tube to such shaft, means to rotatably support the adjacent end portions of said shafts, and means to also rotatably support each of the opposite ends of said shafts.

5. A device of the class described, comprising a pair of axially aligned shafts, an end of one of which is journalled in the adjacent end of the other, a longitudinal slot in each shaft to operatively secure the end portion of a collapsible tube to such shaft, means to rotatably support the adjacent end portions of said shafts, and means to also rotatably support each of the opposite ends of said shafts, all of said supporting means being integrally connected together by a base plate, which is adapted to be secured to an extraneous support.

RENE OLDFIELD. 

